Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has rolled out preliminary details of a plan to replace Obamacare.
Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has rolled out preliminary details of a plan to replace Obamacare. Claiming the complexity of the current healthcare law is one of the reasons “why Americans are fed up with Washington,” he’s offered up his own proposal to make health insurance more accessible to the masses.
Taking a more conservative approach to health insurance, Bush has targeted three main points with his proposal: lowering costs, taking power away from the federal government by returning it to the states and encouraging innovation in healthcare.
Bush’s plan seeks to achieve some of its stated goals by giving individuals higher tax credits for purchasing health insurance. He also aims to increase the contribution limits on health savings accounts to enable people to cover their out-of-pocket expenses more easily.
Bush hopes to spark innovation in healthcare by reducing some of the current regulations faced by the industry. For example, he has his sights set on overhauling the regulations imposed by the Food and Drug Administration and also wants to see limits placed on malpractice lawsuits.
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The proposal would also place caps on federal payments to states while creating a transition plan for the 17 million people currently enrolled in Affordable Care Act Coverage. Limits on the tax-free status of employer-provided health insurance are also proposed, a move that has staunch opposition from labor unions.
Since its approval, the Affordable Care Act has received its share of support and opposition. Detractors cite the law’s individual mandate that all Americans must have healthcare coverage among their biggest points of contention. Other points that have drawn criticism of the current act include higher taxes on higher earners and the complexity involved in shopping for insurance and filing tax returns now that the law is in place.
Even detractors, however, have found some good in the existing healthcare law. Bush, for example, wants to keep coverage for preexisting conditions in place. This Obamacare aspect has been largely supported by individuals, but has gained some criticism from those who say it drives the cost of insurance up for everyone.
Bush intends to release more details about his plan in the near future. Whether he’ll get a chance to attempt to roll it out or not remains to be seen; he’s currently trailing other Republican rivals, such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson, in the polls.
